The New Edition Story Explained By Michael Bivins

The New Edition Story Explained By Michael Bivins on the Breakfast Club is a must-see for those of you who just got done watching their story on BET. I grew up on this group and for me, going back takes me to my own childhood. So much of what Michael Bivins shares in this interview is what so many of us in the hip hop community have forgotten. New Edition was very influential in bridging the gap between hip hop and r&b music. This is a great and insightful interview on, not only New Edition, but also on the transitions that each of the members made throughout their careers. They were late 80’s, and early 90’s, and the artists that Michael Bivins went on to sign would continue a ‘trend’ that has hip hop and even r&b where it is today.

It’s kind of ironic because in this interview, Biv mentions t hat there really is no r&b category anymore. Everything is ‘hip hop’, or at least what people consider to be hip hop today. They were one of the first groups to ‘bust a verse’ on a song. Their verses were never mind blowing, thought provoking, or informative about the world we live in. They were really giving us watered down verses. We let it slide though because they weren’t ‘actually’ hip hop artists. They weren’t real rappers. Rap was just starting to really take hold at that point in time. Bivins also brings that up in this interview as well, because afterall late 80’s and early 90’s is right when hip hop was emerging in the world. He said a lot of rap artists couldn’t get insurance to do shows, so they had to link up with New Edition.

Watch Michael Bivins sit down with The Breakfast Club, to discuss New Edition, Hip Hop, and the Music Industry then, and now.

Lots of ground is covered in this interview. The shady side of the music business we all know about. The fact that New Edition has been appropriated by white artists. Hip Hop is corporate now, and the way music companies operate has a lot to do with everything. But, we knew that. It’s just always reaffirming to hear it from someone who’s involved in the industry. Solutions that he’s talking about, include things that real hip hop artists and real hip hop companies can start doing today. We do live in a new time where you can take your music career into your own hands. You can carve out a future for yourself, in a similar way that the members of New Edition found ways to do that for themselves. They overcame a lot of obstacles to be where they are today.

There are several lessons that any up coming artist and group can learn from the insight that is shared in this sit down.  Especially when it ultimately comes to putting yourselves over the ‘interests of outsiders’. So often we hear about beefs that end up with people falling out and going back and forth with diss tracks. Sometimes those bad feelings get way out of hand. After their story has aired on BET, Bell Biv DeVoe stopped by the Breakfast Club, and gave another interview.

They say that they could make ‘another movie’ about what they have been through in the last 12 years. I guess they’re planting the seeds early. Stay tuned for more…